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Summary

Even though the genesis of the pan African idea and movement is traceable to the mid-19th century in the Americas, the cut-off point of my presentation is 1945. After the 4th pan African conference in 1927, Pan Africanism went through a lull period until 1945, when the 5th pan African conference was held. The 1945 conference energized, repositioned and reclaimed the pan African project certainly, but also led to the relocation of its epicenter to the African continent. Ghana gained political freedom 12 years later with Kwame Nkrumah as founding President. From then on an intricate intellectual, ideological and political collaboration developed between Du Bois, Nkrumah and Padmore. This intellectual and political collaboration is the subject of my presentation. The three became what I call, for want of a better term, ‘the holy trinity’ of pan Africanism, and inspired a heritage of solidarity, resistance and liberation globally. I examine the relationships that developed between the three, and the ramifications thereof.

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